The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) represents one of the most anticipated events of the year. Technological innovation has an increasingly dramatic impact on consumers’ lives, and the show is a fantastic gauge of what is to come in media usage, breakthroughs in time-management aided by technology and ever-emerging new advertising platforms. Trends develop as both major and rising brands showcase their new ideas for capturing consumer attention and addressing the gaps in the current marketplace. So what did the 2017 CES forecast for the future?
Traditionally non-digital times of day are opening
Overall time spent with media has begun to flatten out as consumers have already incorporated second- and third-screen time into any available hours they once had. The mass adoption of the smartphone brought major increases in media interaction time as more of the public was able to access news and entertainment while away from home. By 2016, Americans were spending 12 hours and 5 minutes of every day interacting with media, a full hour more than the total time spent in 2011. This was a direct result of ready access to mobile devices and the plethora of platform choice opened by an “anytime,
Read MoreThe latest consumer technology, and what it means for marketers.
The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) represents one of the most anticipated events of the year. Technological innovation has an increasingly dramatic impact on consumers’ lives, and the show is a fantastic gauge of what is to come in media usage, breakthroughs in time-management aided by technology and ever-emerging new advertising platforms. Trends develop as both major and rising brands showcase their new ideas for capturing consumer attention and addressing the gaps in the current marketplace. So what did the 2017 CES forecast for the future?
Traditionally non-digital times of day are opening
Overall time spent with media has begun to flatten out as consumers have already incorporated second- and third-screen time into any available hours they once had. The mass adoption of the smartphone brought major increases in media interaction time as more of the public was able to access news and entertainment while away from home. By 2016, Americans were spending 12 hours and 5 minutes of every day interacting with media, a full hour more than the total time spent in 2011. This was a direct result of ready access to mobile devices and the plethora of platform choice opened by an “anytime, anywhere” marketplace. Estimates for 2018, however, predict a growth of only 3 minutes over 2016 numbers, creating an ever-frenzied drive for the battle over valuable minutes in a cluttered marketplace.
It was evident that electronics developers are aware of the increasingly aggressive media landscape since the push for interactivity was everywhere at CES. Connected refrigerators, washers, dryers and even bathroom mirrors allow for interaction with potential customers. What’s more, they open fourth, fifth and sixth screens for advertising and purchase opportunities at all points of the day. Directly addressing pain points (washers that will order detergent from Amazon, refrigerators that create a shopping list and automatically order groceries, bathroom mirrors that connect to YouTube for beauty product demonstrations) will create in-home sales points beyond the desktop, phone or tablet while also creating efficiencies for busy consumers.
Help the consumer and win their loyalty
It is no secret that clutter and endless choice create confusion. That is why connected household devices aim to improve people’s lives by making daily chores easier, and this theme extended throughout CES in 2017. Simplicity and ease of use were paramount with all product introductions. As technology becomes more advanced, streamlining options for consumers becomes more essential and cutting through the clutter will help brands stand out in the purchase consideration process. Plug and play TVs featuring easy installation and mounting options, tiny electric cars with charging capabilities via a basic household AC plug and in-car or in-home predictive technology that suggests in-route store visits or entertainment options based on historical consumption behavior are just a few examples.
Taking customer convenience even further, TV manufacturers are teaming up with Roku and other over-the-top (OTT) device technologies to integrate online and offline video offerings into seamless on-screen menus. Suggestive menus based on customer inputs and learning technology will guide consumers to their favorite programs regardless of the viewing platform, so all programming will be at a customer’s fingertips in one location. This new consolidation technology helps everyone: the customer who may not even be aware of all the viewing options available, the content creators who can expand audiences through suggestive options targeting “look-alike” viewers and the advertisers who currently must consider all platforms separately in order to achieve holistic viewership coverage across a market. Ownership of the viewing menu means owning advertising dollars as well as viewers’ eyeballs, and the battle for this platform has begun in earnest. Cable providers, TV manufacturers and OTT device makers will be focusing all efforts on consolidating viewership through one menu hub in order to own the video-at-home environment.
The TV screen will remain the hub of the home
Even as live TV viewing time has decreased, the traditional television screen has not lost its value. Large-screen and group viewing still dominate for major video events, and the largest screen in consumers’ homes will only become more crucial as the Internet of Things (IoT) gains traction and the connected home continues to evolve. CES technology booths showed efforts are well underway to focus on the TV as the control center of the entire home. For more than 116 million TV households, who own an average of two and a half televisions per household, the screen is an everyday fixture in a usually centrally located position. This makes it the obvious choice to become a hub for heating and cooling, lighting, security, entertainment, news and shopping. With the addition of suggestive programming and artificial intelligence, the TV will continue to evolve into a personal assistant, home organizer and consumption hub with power well beyond the new versions of Amazon Echo or Google Home.
Though these innovations will likely need the next five years to reach full potential, electronics manufacturers are already anticipating consumer response to the continuing presence of a large TV in the center of the living room. As portable electronics become smaller and sleeker, TV makers want to be sure the traditional television follows suit. Though the size of the screen won’t decrease, having the ability to hide it by slimming the design and adding a frame to simulate hanging artwork when the TV is not in use allows for less intrusive hardware. One manufacturer has even created a TV that acts as a clear glass cabinet door when the power is turned off. This means that the need for screens, and especially at least one large one in the home, will not dissipate. Designers are clearly anticipating growth in the market.
Though CES 2017 did not introduce a ground-breaking new device that will change the face of consumer media interaction (as it did with the smartphone), it certainly emphasized the rising importance and evolution of connectivity, screens and new devices and platforms. All of these will bring consumers and brands closer together with more ease than ever before.